Ask HN: Please review my startup (www.spibby.com)

[noelsequeira]

Spibby intends to be a game centered around check-ins and purchases (via the Foursquare and Blippy APIs).

Our minimum viable product is a real-time, user-generated stream of what people are spending on / recommending. We plan to gradually integrate location and purchases into this stream. Foursquare integration: A user will see a list of recent check-ins and be allowed to enter purchases made at these locations. Blippy integration: A user's credit card swipes will be pulled into the Spibby stream from Blippy. Points will be earned from a combination of swipes, transactions and Spibby posts (and the conversations around these posts).

NOTE: In its current avatar, Spibby might seem like a non-automated version of Blippy / Swipely, but that's quite intentional - we hope to integrate with these services and eventually build our game on top their APIs. The value-add around the user generated posts (that we currently allow) is the ability to discuss wishlists / cash transactions / questions before a purchase, which we think is quite significant.

We'd like to a) receive feedback and b) start building a community as early as we can. Spibby, right now, is extremely basic - we let you make simple posts and follow other users, but we've already seen some interesting conversations unfold between our initial users.

We're quite sure we're in for some really compelling feedback from the HN community. 1) We'd love to hear what you think of the concept. 2) We'd like to know if you think the path we're taking (from MVP to version 1.0) and our complete apathy towards stealth makes sense 3) We'd like your inputs on how we can make Spibby better

Thanks a ton in advance!

[bdickason]

I haven't visited your website yet. I would recommend that you work on your pitch. Your first line was not compelling, doesn't explain to me why I want to use Spibby, or why the world needs it!

After reading the second paragraph, itjust seems like you tie Blippy/Foursquare together via api's and aggregate the data. Is there anything I'm missing?

Sorry if this comes off as negative, it's really meant as constructive criticism. I went to your site and I'd love to see more thought put into explaining why, as a user, I want to 'earn points' or 'recommend' on Spibby when I can do it on a ton of other sites (for exampleI'd probably use yelp right now). Some sort of analysis of what happens when the service gets huge (why is it valuable to me? Why does my contribution make a difference? What is it working towards?) could be very helpful in making people interested :)

[noelsequeira → bdickason]

I think you make a point that I was blind to because it's hard for me to look at the app purely from a first time visitor's perspective.

The reason we've kept our description on HN very matter-of-fact is: we feel most readers on HN will likely want to know the concept for what it is rather than have it sugar coated. I'm not sure I want to turn that into a sales pitch. Should I?

Yes, we do plan to tie up the APIs and build a game on top them. We look at it as a universal game that you can play irrespective of the check-in service you use (Your Yelp check-ins will fetch you points that will let you lock horns with Gowalla and Foursquare users). I guess being more loud about 'universal' might help. And we hope to see some very interesting conversations around purchases that should help users discover new stuff (think hollrr.com meets location). If it does get traction, we'll be able to offer users some pretty sweet deals from the locations they check-in to / shop at.

That being said, I recognize that we haven't answered the "what's in it for me if I sign up now?" question convincingly. Since this value will become apparent in the future, do you think its alright to beat a drum about how cool it will be and make promises we might (possibly) not be able to keep?

[bdickason → noelsequeira]

Perhaps something like this: "Don't you hate 'checking in' to five different services, updating your facebook status, posting a tweet every time you go somewhere? 'Spib it' once then sit back and enjoy your latte."

I realize that's a bit snarky but that's the type of message I would want to see: "This is your problem. Here's how we solve it."

[findm → bdickason]

Agree, also I think the last step is of little value. I wouldn't include it on your sell page. Would be a nice to have once you have power users but too early to invest time in to that this early on.

I would try writing a short narrative to illustrate the value added. Good story telling never gets old. I don't see it being a good selling point.

[Raphael]

http://www.spibby.com/

[sethwartak]

it's too complicated / how do you use it?, let me know what it does within 5 seconds or fewer....

[executive]

a red signup button would result in more conversions

[noelsequeira → executive]

we could definitely make that change.